This is a platform for our affinity group, our squat Positivenest, our projects like Program Awakening, and the videos and posters manufactured by Spirit of Squatters Collective and a few others. Our idea is to bring a lot of positive messages and constructive solutions to the alternative movement. We try to avoid pessimistic news, except when we are fighting for freedom of speech. Real life starts when we turn off our computer, our tv, etc. If you want to contact us, email mgriks@gmail.com

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Thats invitation to the program that means more less how it was Tomorrow issue thats like usual agenda,then continuation of speeches, interviews from presetation of white book of squatters(MAIN SUBJECT again)in den Haag. Beside of that raport about smashing the wapon factory in England other news and continuation of our solidarity with Greece and Palestine and more... After polish part (~40 min) continuation of discusion on presentation and more interviews about white book in englishhttp://www.archive.org/details/GriksAwakening7Whitwbook2here You can download the program but i don't know why this time You can not download it. We would try to sort this problem...

Southern African citizens have launched a hunger strike to press for justice and democracy in Zimbabwe.Click below to see the video appeal for global solidarity and pledge to fast this Sunday -- they will present the world's call to leaders at an Africa-wide summit:

Israel and Hamas have agreed to a brief cessation of violence and international negotiations have begun -- more than half a million Avaaz members signed petitions, made phone calls, and donated funds to press for a comprehensive ceasefire and a just peace. Obama has sent the more even-handed George Mitchell to talks, and a member-funded Avaaz campaign is underway to help lift pro-peace voices in US media. Suffering continues in the region, but hope is rising.

When Africa's heads of state meet this Sunday, they will be greeted by a crowd of hunger strikers, calling for justice and democracy in Zimbabwe.

Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela's wife Graça Machel, and hundreds of others have joined the campaign and pledged solidarity with the Zimbabwean people—most of whom are now struggling to survive on a meal a day or less. Their powerful demonstration of commitment has seized the media's attention, pressuring leaders to refuse Mugabe in his attempts to cling to power.

The world's support is needed now. Kumi Naidoo, a South African activist in his eighth day of a 21-day hunger strike, has recorded a video appeal for Avaaz members worldwide to join the protest by pledging to fast this Sunday, when he will speak to the African Union summit about Zimbabwe's crisis. If thousands of us fast, our actions will give power to his words. Click here to see the video and join the fast:

Zimbabwe's crisis—cholera, hyperinflation, hunger, and Mugabe's brutality—keeps worsening. But as the stakes rise, the movement for change is growing stronger and bolder. The European Union just tightened sanctions targeting Mugabe's regime. Hunger strikers in Southern Africa, trying to deliver a petition to leaders Monday, were blasted by riot police shooting rubber bullets. And after all-night talks earlier this week the opposition stated that it would join a "unity" government only if there was real power sharing, political prisoners were out of jail, and Zimbabweans' urgent needs met.

The next five days are critical: as Africa's leaders choose their next moves, we must demonstrate that the world stands strong with Zimbabwe's fairly-elected Movement for Democratic Change, and that Mugabe's reign must end. When the African Union leaders sit down this Sunday in Ethiopia, their decisions will be shaped by the political conditions that we help create.

Time and again, we have rallied. More than 400,000 of us have signed petitions, sending virtual "red cards" to Mugabe that were waved by labor activists in a march this fall. We flew an airplane over the United Nations headquarters to urge Mbeki to support democracy in Zimbabwe. And this Christmas, we sent radio ads to tell the people of Zimbabwe they were not forgotten.

Now, through a concrete act of self-sacrifice, we can take our efforts a level higher. Our solidarity fast will strengthen the moral force of Zimbabwean and South African activists who are demanding change. Click here to join the fast:

One day, democracy will be restored to Zimbabwe--the refugees will return home, the fields will burst with food, the hospitals and clinics will be full of medicine and healing. And all of us will know that in answering the call of a suffering but defiant people, we played a part in their victory.

ABOUT AVAAZ Avaaz.org is an independent, not-for-profit global campaigning organization that works to ensure that the views and values of the world's people inform global decision-making. (Avaaz means "voice" in many languages.) Avaaz receives no money from governments or corporations, and is staffed by a global team based in Ottawa, London, Rio de Janeiro, New York, Buenos Aires, and Geneva. Call us at: +1 888 922 8229 or +55 21 2509 0368 Click here to learn more about our largest campaigns. Don't forget to check out our Facebook and Myspace and Bebo pages!

Monday, January 26, 2009

radio awakening every tue from 16.00-19.00 in radio patapoe 88.3 fm (links below)

Tomorrow issue thats like usual agenda,then continuation of speeches, interviews from presetation of white book of squatters(MAIN SUBJECT again)in den Haag. Beside of that raport about smashing the wapon factory in England other news and continuation of our solidarity with Greece and Palestine and more...

Awakening its a program in radio patapoe.Itś talkactive. It means we talk for almost three ha.Mainly about politics,squatting,activism,ecology,tolerance,human and animal rights,punk,spirituality,freedom,love,cultural live in Amsterdam.First we start witch agenda for squatting scene in Amsterdam( not only),then we have some main subject,sometimes guests.The last half ha we do as polish part in this language.The music what we are playing that mainly punk,but this is just as background(package) and in the breaks when we are preparing ourself,equipment,material,etc.Patapoe is a pirate, underground,squatters radio. We playing our program every tuesday from 4pm till 7pm.In Amsterdam You can listen us in the ether 88.3 FM and ewerywhere else on http://www.freeteam.nl/patapoeIf You would like to listen some from our old programs and read description for them go to: http://ourmediaindymedia.blogspot.com/search/label/Awakening%20program if You would like listen,download or embed some of our old issues go to: http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=Awakening7

Invitation to our program Awakening in radio patapoe 88.3fm To all positive organizations & To whom it may concern,

If you would like to come to on our show called awakening to talk about, ecology, squatting, local politics, food, animal rights you are more than welcome. The show is streamed through radio patapoe 88.33FM every Tuesday from 16:00-18:30. Please write first telling us what you would like to talk about and the time that you would like to to start. Give us at least one week in advance.

Kind regards, Awakening. Ps: There are also possibilities to make interviews throught phone or skype

Thanks to actions against the ship in Mayo and loads of solidarity protests around the world,last September we halted the the world’s biggest pipelaying ship.In a real David and Goliath battle, with only rubber dinghies and wetsuits, we blocked the Solitaire. Local fisherman also tried to keep the Solitaire out of their fishing waters & a local woman went on hunger strike until the Solitaire left Irish Waters.Luckily the Solitaire left after 11 days.

However the Solitaire is due back soon, probably April-May 2009.

Hey up, hope this finds you well...

Thanks to actions against the ship in Mayo and loads of solidarity protests around the world, last September we halted the the world’s biggest pipelaying ship.In a real David and Goliath battle, with only rubber dinghies and wetsuits, we blocked the Solitaire. Local fisherman also tried to keep the Solitaire out of their fishing waters & a local woman went on hunger strike until the Solitaire left Irish Waters.Luckily the Solitaire left after 11 days.

However the Solitaire is due back soon, probably April-May 2009.

ACTIONS AGAINST ALLSEAS

The Solitaire is owned by Allseas, who are doing stalls in a few places in Belgium & the Netherlands over the next few months. Any protests against these would be great: the Solitaire is not welcome in Ireland.

We know we can win this and it would be fantastic to see even morepeople helping to block the Solitaire!

COME TO IRELAND!Everyone will receive safety training and there's accommodation + meals available.If you are interested in getting involved, coming to visit this amazing place or doing solidarity actions wherever you are, please do get in touch.Check out www.rossportsolidaritycamp.110mb.com , www.indymedia.ie/mayo

Many thanks

Please post on lists & indymedia but use rossportsolidaritycamp@gmail.com as contact email

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

What's your pledge? On President Obama's first day in office I went for a walk and took some pictures of some Christmas trees.Some people have started a guerrilla garden on a piece of Amsterdam wasteland. They have rescued some Christmas trees from the trash and planted them. Later on in the spring they plan to plant some herbs and food plants. It's a great idea, and becoming more popular all over the world. There is so much wasted land in cities that could be used to make our environment greener, more pleasant and more useful.

A guy called Richard has been doing this in London, and has a webpage called Guerrilla Gardening Homepage, and David Tracey in Canada has written a book on the subject. There are so many bits of waste ground where food could be grown. After all we are a species of hunters and gatherers. Is it perhaps not time to learn some of our old skills again? As times get tougher becoming more self-sufficient is a sensible option. It also makes a positive contribution to the balance of nature. Every tree we plant takes up a bit of CO2, and helps to tackle global warming. Think big, start small should be our new motto.

I pledge to support a greener city and support guerrilla gardeners everywhere. What's your pledge?

We're going to show the documentary 'The future of food' about the genetical modification of our food, and a short movie about a US family who diceded to start growing there own food in a reaction to this.

========================================

*)Transition Town tea in the Pijp introducing Movie Mingle Meet A transition town starts off when a small group of motivated individuals within a community comes together with a shared concern: how can our community respond to the challenges and opportunities of peak oil and climate change?

Wow!!! We getting organized more and more.The yesterday issue is ready to listen while is still actual. Great lets hope this would became rutine.
This issue thats like usual agenda,then speeches, interviews from presetation of white book of squatters(MAIN SUBJECT)in den Haag and from manifestation last saturday on the Dam for Palestina.Beside off that celebrating and info about stoping the conflict in meadle east and continuation of our solidarity Greece and more...

If You would like to download or embed this program go to:
http://www.archive.org/details/GriksAwakening7Whitebookpresentation

Monday, January 19, 2009

Program for tomorrow + general inforadio awakening every tue from 16.00-19.00 in radio patapoe 88.3 fm (links below)

Tomorrow issue thats like usual agenda,then speeches, interviews from presentation of white book of squatters(MAIN SUBJECT)in den Haag and from manifestation last saturday on the Dam for Palestina.Beside off that celebrating stoping the conflict in meadle east and continuation of our solidarity Greece and more...

That was program from last week wchich we managed to put on the next day after while was still was actual. Hopefully this would become rutine...We getting organized ! http://ourmediaindymedia.blogspot.com/2009/01/awakening7-about-palestinagreece-and.htmlthats was invitation thats means also what was in it:Tomorrow issue thats like usual agenda,then continuation of our solidarity with Palestina, Greece and more about good sides off squatting movement and "White book of squatters".Thats all with the political music of freedom in the bacground.

Awakening its a program in radio patapoe.Itś talkactive. It means we talk for almost three ha.Mainly about politics,squatting,activism,ecology,tolerance,human and animal rights,punk,spirituality,freedom,love,cultural live in Amsterdam.First we start witch agenda for squatting scene in Amsterdam( not only),then we have some main subject,sometimes guests.The last half ha we do as polish part in this language.The music what we are playing that mainly punk,but this is just as background(package) and in the breaks when we are preparing ourself,equipment,material,etc.Patapoe is a pirate, underground,squatters radio. We playing our program every tuesday from 4pm till 7pm.In Amsterdam You can listen us in the ether 88.3 FM and ewerywhere else on http://www.freeteam.nl/patapoeIf You would like to listen some from our old programs and read description for them go to: http://ourmediaindymedia.blogspot.com/search/label/Awakening%20programif You would like listen,download or embed some of our old issues go to: http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=Awakening7

Invitation to our program Awakening in radio patapoe 88.3fmTo all positive organizations &To whom it may concern,

If you would like to come to on our show called awakening to talk about, ecology, squatting, local politics, food, animal rights you are more than welcome.The show is streamed through radio patapoe 88.33FM every Tuesday from 16:00-18:30. Please write first telling us what you would like to talk about and the time that you would like to to start. Give us at least one week in advance.

Kind regards,Awakening.Ps: There are also possibilities to make interviews throught phone or skype

Wow! We gating organized. Besides off many other activities what we are involved we mannaged just day after to publish video from the yasterday manifestation on the Dam. The quality is not best, but we are lerning by doing.Soon will the same video appear in better quality.

As a group of people who came from many countries and who took part in thestruggles in Greece over the past weeks, it is now clear to us that thereis no such thing as a "Greek problem", that the situation that sparked theintense riots here is the same that the people are facing everywhereabroad.

A CALL FROM GREECEfor a global day of solidarity actions on January 24th 2009

As a group of people who came from many countries and who took part in thestruggles in Greece over the past weeks, it is now clear to us that thereis no such thing as a "Greek problem", that the situation that sparked theintense riots here is the same that the people are facing everywhereabroad. The murder of Alexandros Grigoropoulos on December 6th was not thesource of this conflict, it only opened and made more clear a conflictthat was already ongoing not only here but everywhere around the planet.

In these unstable times, fearing the threat of a deeper, more globalmovement of insurrection, the authorities have shown their weaknesses intheir protection of the dominant capitalist order. Through the enforcementof anti-terrorist measures, tightening of social control, crackdown ofdifferent areas of resistance, mass arrests, targeted assassinations, theillusion of democracy is falling and the veil of social peace is startingto burn.

The more the State is taking a defensive stance, the more it is time forus to stop fearing its retaliation and to go on the offensive. It is notthe time to withdraw into fear, which would lead us further into adangerous social peace, but the right time for multiplying the offensivesand intensifying the struggle against capitalism and its State,coordinated with the revolt that is happening here.

The core of these events being that we are in a state of war, the only wayto get through it is to assume it and to take the offensive even further.That is why we are calling for a global day of actions on January 24th foryou to carry out and perpetuate the revolt, to increase the instability.It is NOT a call for you to support the Greek people, but for you to takeaction where you are.

The 24th of January will be a day of demonstrations and actions all aroundgreece in support of the prisoners fell in the hands of the system duringthis struggle. Wherever you are, let's attack this system that isoppressing us all !

Squat Positivenest is showing our solidarity in the windows. We trying to keep the old good tradition of Amsterdam still alive. I think our solidarity banner with all immigrants when 11 people burned on Shiphol was one of the best action off squatting movement. Why not to do it now too ? Who if not We ? When if not now ?

Freedom for Tibet !Free Palestina !Freedom for other nations !Stop their ocupation's !

Join us at "Target Cafe" every last Wednesday of the month, starting on Wednesday 28 January in De Peper, Overtoom 301, Amsterdam. Doors open at 19.30, cafe starts at 20.00.

Come to Target Cafe to get information about the upcoming actions against NATO's 60th anniversary celebrations. This 'celebration' will take palce at the beginning of April [geen specifieke data?] in and around Strasbourg. Broad coalitions of anti-military activists are already plotting to use this 'celebration' to launch the beginning of the end for 60 years of ongoing war and imperialism.

Each cafe will take on a different topic and will bring together information, analysis, history, fun, inspiration and time and space for local initiatives and networks. The format will be: - Update on the anti-NATO mobilization so far - Announcements about local actions/initiatives - History of resistacne to NATO/anti-military movement - An exciting and suspenseful pub-quiz!

Topics: 28 January: general introduction to the history and role of NATO in global politics, with emphasis on foreign interventions and the role of NATO in the Netherlands.

25 March: The international security infrastructure and NATO's role in constructing and maintianing it.

Target Cafe will also discuss other major upcoming mobilizations, including actions against the G20 summits and the restructuring of the global economy. The monthly Target Cafe will continue after the april anti-NATO mobilization to focus on these and othe mobilizations if there is enough energy and interest.

The cold blooded murder of a 15 year old student ―part of a long sequence of murders and police brutalities that characterized the entire post-civil war period in Greece, including the post-junta period― acted as a catalyst for a social explosion and, at the same time, made abundantly clear the continuous worsening of the multidimensional crisis to which we have referred many times in the past[1].

Why a systemic crisis?

The crisis in Greece, as in every other country which has been integrated into the internationalised market economy, is, at the outset, an economic one, as a result of the opening up and deregulation of its markets that this integration implies. In the Greek case, this followed its entry into the EU.[2] The effects of the country’s integration into the internationalised market economy have been, as everywhere, a huge and continuously growing gap between, on the one hand, the elites and the privileged social strata which benefit from capitalist neoliberal globalisation and, on the other, the rest of the population which suffers the effects of unemployment, job insecurity, and poverty to which more than 20% of the population is presently condemned. Given that most young Greeks in the past used to be employed in the significant nationalised sector, the privatisation of large segments of it, combined with the effective destruction of the agricultural and manufacturing sectors, as a result of the opening of markets, has led to massive unemployment among the young people, with Greece having one of the highest youth unemployment rates in the Eurozone. At the same time, the adopted model of “export-led” growth has led to a huge current account deficit in the Balance of Payments of about $53bn ―or 15% of GDP― which is easily the highest in the Eurozone. No wonder the present financial crisis is expected to hit Greece particularly hard, not only because of the effects of world recession on tourism, but also because its public debt is presently almost equal to its national output ―one of the legacies of the 2004 Athens Olympics, which, at a cost of a record £9.4 bn to stage,[3] was an economic disaster. Not surprisingly, the present government is currently borrowing at excessive rates in the world markets, while the bill, i.e. the huge expenses to “service” this debt, will be paid later by the lower social strata (which traditionally carry the lion's share of the tax burden in Greece), in the form of more taxes and less social spending.

However, the crisis does not only refer to the economic institutions, i.e. the capitalist market economy in its current phase of neoliberal globalization, but also, to what passes as “democracy” and “politics” today, i.e. representative “democracy” and “politics”, as carried out by the professional politicians of all parliamentary parties. This crisis is expressed by the popular disdain for the two main parties (and the corresponding family dynasties which have run Greece for the last half a century or so, i.e. the Karamanlis clan of the New Democracy party and the Papandreou clan of the PASOK party) which are distinguished for their corruption and fostering relations of citizens’ dependence on them. In fact, it is exactly this dependence, vastly enhanced by the corrupt bureaucratic state mechanism created by the same professional politicians, which ensures their re-election, given that the lower social strata cannot secure a job, or even a proper medical care for that matter, unless they have the necessary “connections” with the highly corrupt political class. No wonder, that probably the main characteristic of the recent social eruption in Greece is the confirmation of the fact that a large part of the population, particularly young people who have not yet been integrated into the political and economic system ―and the chances of doing do in the future are slim!― are uncontrollable by the political elites. And this refers not just to the professional politicians of the two governing parties, but also to those of the traditional Left which presently are engaged in a dog fight to restore some control on the electorate, with the Alliance of the Left party (SYRIZA) a reformist Left party integrated into the European Union and the party of the “European Left”, attempting to attract votes from the revolting youth by praising their militancy, while the Communist Party (KKE) attempts to attract votes from the older generation of its supporters (who are now mostly law-abiding citizens voting for PASOK) by attacking SYRIZA for supporting lawless elements within the youth movement!

Furthermore, the crisis is also a deeply social one, as the past eruptions of the student movement have shown with respect to the attempts by neoliberals and social-liberals to implement the EU instructions to privatize education[4]. Finally, it is an ecological crisis, as it was tragically shown in the summer of 2007, when the effect of the combination of climatic change and the criminal elite’s corruption was scores of poor peasants burned to death.[5]

Last, but not least, the crisis is not only institutional, referring to the main economic and political institutions of Greece, but also ―and mainly― a crisis of values, i.e. a crisis which questions the very values which support these institutions, or better, what we may call the dominant social paradigm, namely, the system of beliefs, ideas and the corresponding values which are dominant in a particular society at a particular moment of its history[6]. Thus, the youth movement which developed during the present crisis, implicitly or explicitly, questioned the individualistic values of competition and greed, as well as those of selfishness and consumerism ―in short, the values of heteronomy, which are either founded on the political, economic and, in general, social institutions, or on spiritual heteronomy resulting from religious irrationalism.This is, therefore, a systemic crisis.

The spectre of insurrections today

Of course, this crisis is not just a Greek phenomenon. Instead, at this very moment, a spectre is haunting the world which has adopted the capitalist market economy system: the spectre of massive insurrections which the transnational and local elites fear are about to explode as a result of the accumulation of anger among the non-privileged social strata. This is the rage caused by the realisation of the magnitude of their deception all these years that hard work (and in some cases exhausting work, as for example, in “miracle” countries like China, India, etc.) and the accumulation of degrees would lead to a constant improvement of their standard of life, that is, their level of consumption. A deception, which becomes now clear when they discover that this agonizing effort, though leading to an expansion of the middle classes especially in the North, has led the vast majority of the world’s population to live in insecurity, if not in abject poverty. At the same time, they witness the constant deterioration of their quality of life and, sometimes their life itself being threatened for the sake of economic growth and “development”, which distributes the largest portion of social wealth to the elites, the privileged social classes and their descendants, while the leftovers are distributed to the rest to buy off their tolerance[7].

It is, therefore, clear that, as long as this multidimensional crisis deepens, the social eruptions in the North and South will multiply. So, it is not at all surprising that the elites in all these countries are reinforcing their terrorist weaponry which they call “anti-terror” legislation, and which, in effect, aims at controlling their own populations.[8] And, of course, nothing will change if the present system adopts a “human” face by introducing some reforms of itself, (as requested by the reformist Left), which will leave the fundamental political, economic and social structures reproducing the system intact.

A new May ‘68?

Today’s social explosions, either those in the suburbs of Paris a few years ago[9], or the present one in Greece, do not have the familiar characteristics of the past “politicised” insurrections, which culminated in May ‘68. This is what clearly differentiates the former from the latter and, particularly what the elites and the ideologiues of the system within the academia and the mass media call “blind violence”, namely, the popular counter-violence against property. This violence never turns against life ―in contrast to systemic violence that has no problem in readily sacrificing it, despite their hypocritical protestations of human life as the “ultimate good”. Instead, it turns only against either the symbols of economic and political power (banks, transnational corporations, Government and police departments, etc.) or against the symbols of consumerism. However, these aims are not determined collectively through a conscious democratic (or not) process ―as was the case in May ‘68 when the aims of protest were determined through the student assemblies or the various political organizations― but, on principle, individually and on the basis of a usually subconscious repulsion for the institutions and values of the system. Of course, as in any uprising, not all participants are driven by similar motives. For instance, survival considerations usually motivate impoverished immigrants or drug addicts, both of whom are the main victims of social oppression ―not to mention the cases of secret services’ agents and provocateurs who simply aim at discrediting the popular counter-violence.

However, the “blind” character of present popular counter-violence gives it a positive as well as a negative character. A positive character, which expresses the popular spontaneity that is based on ―at least― a subconscious perception of the systemic causes of the crisis and which turns the rage of the participants against the symbols of the system. And, a negative character, because this very spontaneity, when not driven by a universal political project (that is, an elementary analysis of the causes of the crisis, a rudimentary vision of the form the alternative society should take, and a strategy leading to it) inevitably leads to a dead end and to the brutal suppression of all these spontaneous uprisings, through the use of even more raw violence, while the “silent majority” remains sitting on their sofas, under the full control of professional politicians. The need, therefore, for the development of a mass movement on the basis of a new antisystemic project, which could lead to an alternative, worthy of its name, democracy, that is an inclusive democracy, is more imperative than ever.

As the awful Gaza death toll approaches 1000, our Ceasefire Now petition is being delivered worldwide through ads, phone calls, and meetings with world leaders. We urgently need to reach 1 million signatures this week, act now:

Gaza is dying -- the battle is moving into its cities, jam-packed with 1.5 million civilians lacking food, medicine or water. President Bush undermined Thursday's United Nations ceasefire resolution, and almost 1000 people are now dead. The borders remain closed -- journalists can't get in, and desperate civilians can't get out.

But the global movement to end this war is building -- our petition is at 430,000 signatures and rising, it has been delivered to top leaders at the EU, UN and Arab League, our US members are flooding their representatives with phone calls, and Avaaz members worldwide have donated over $120,000 to an ad campaign in key newspapers.

The pressure is working -- so we're ratcheting it up with hard-hitting US ads pressing Barack Obama personally for an immediate change of tack, face-to-face petition deliveries to European leaders this week to get them to act, and working with Palestinians and Israelis to plan bold actions on the ground. But every one of these actions becomes stronger as more of us join the campaign. We need to reach 1 million signatures this week -- sign the petition now and let's forward this email to all our friends and family:

Voices for a ceasefire are finally being heard in the Israeli cabinet and media, Hamas is signalling it could accept a deal including Turkish forces and EU monitors, but the sides are too far apart to end this themselves.[3] That's why action by world powers is critical to break the deadlock -- and global citizens' voices can make all the difference if we raise an unstoppable voice calling on incoming President Obama, the EU and Arab and Muslim states to guarantee a fair and lasting ceasefire.

This week we are lobbying European and Muslim states for a more effective international initiative to end the violence, protect civilians on all sides and make normal life possible again in Gaza, while reaching out to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon who is in the Middle East working for a deal (we met him last year to deliver our food crisis campaign). Meanwhile we're challenging contacts on both sides to think creatively and accept a fair, internationally-overseen agreement.

We've already run member-funded ads in the influential Washington Post and Roll Call, the US Congress newspaper -- on the day of his inauguration this coming Tuesday, we will press Barack Obama to abandon Bush's failed policies and act immediately to end this war, using his own words alongside hard facts to make the case in ads, US media debates and directly lobbying his team.

It's amazing what we can do when hundreds of thousands of us come together arond the world -- and if we raise our efforts to another level this week, we could help to finally end the Gaza horror. Follow the link below to take the first step by signing the petition, then spread the word so others can do the same:

"Reigniting Violence: How Do Ceasefires End?" (6 January 2009) is a statistical analysis by an MIT professor, based on Israel's own data for rocket fire (which it shows stopped for four months) and on which side struck first. It provides useful factual background for how the Israel-Hamas truce effectively collapsed in November well before it expired (facts poorly reflected in some news reporting):http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nancy-kanwisher/reigniting-violence-how-d_b_155611.html

The US Army War College has just released a substantial report supporting the view that Hamas can and must be brought into negotiations and is capable of sustaining a long-term truce, or even peace with Israel. Linked via:http://ricks.foreignpolicy.com/node/10703

To contact Avaaz, please do not reply to this email. Instead, write to info@avaaz.org. You can also call us at +1-888-922-8229 (US) or +55 21 2509 0368 (Brazil) If you have technical problems, please go to http://www.avaaz.org

Monday, January 12, 2009

Thats what was in invitation:Today in our program the main subject would be solidarity with Palestina o.a. interviews speeches from demonstration in saturday. We will cotinue raports whats going on in Greece, talk about Guerilla Gardening(for this was not enough time in the end), good sites of squatting movement etc, Thats all with the political music of freedom in the bacground.If you would like embed or download this program go to:http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=Awakening7%20AND%20mediatype%3Aaudio

International anarchist communist statement

Demonstration in Jaffa. 27/12/2008. Pictures by ActiveStills

Joint international anarchist communist statement on the situation in Israel/Palestine, signed by the Federazione dei Comunisti Anarchici (Italy), Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front (South Africa), Common Cause (Ontario, Canada), members of Anarchists Against the Wall (Israel) and Alternative Libertaire (France).

"Hundreds of dead and thousands of injured, sacrificed on the altar of Zionist expansionism and fundamentalism. In Europe, the foreign ministers of every EU country talk about an "exaggerated", though "legitimate", reaction on the part of Israel, reversing the true situation with an operation that would make the most cynical illusionist feel proud by making the aggressor, the State of Israel, appear to be the victim. "

The Gaza slaughter: Europe's hand is bloodied too

Hundreds of dead and thousands of injured, sacrificed on the altar of Zionist expansionism and fundamentalism. In Europe, the foreign ministers of every EU country talk about an "exaggerated", though "legitimate", reaction on the part of Israel, reversing the true situation with an operation that would make the most cynical illusionist feel proud by making the aggressor, the State of Israel, appear to be the victim.

They continue to pretend that they do not remember that Gaza - one of the most densely-populated regions with around one and a half million inhabitants, about half of whom are children - has been the object of a total embargo for years, an embargo which includes medicines and basic necessities and which is supported by the entire "civilized" western world, imposed by Israel and the West as a result of the Hamas election victory, thanks to the mixed electoral system of majority and proportional representation. Just as they pretend to forget that Hamas was once financed by Israel as a way of countering the PLO.

Despite a 6-month truce, the embargo was not even slightly relaxed and not one of the Western powers even timidly suggested relaxing it. The State of Israel has returned to its strategy of military control over Gaza and the West Bank. All Europe's useless, hypocritical proclamations of a desire for peace systematically forget to mention that for 60 years Israel has been blithely violating countless UN resolutions and continues to occupy the territory militarily, with Israeli colonies spreading throughout Palestinian land day by day, building walls that segregate entire villages and prevent millions of refugees from returning to their land, uprooting olive groves and killing livestock, day after day humiliating anyone who tries to cross the segregation walls in order to go to work, to hospital or to school.

And not only that: they hide the fact that the truce was broken by the Israeli State on 4th November 2008 when its army killed a 22-year-old Hamas militant.

But aside from the false, hypocritical proclamations of pacifism, what is the reason for this unconditional support for such an aggressive, warmongering State by practically every major Western power?

As far as the USA is concerned, there is no doubt. Apart from the important strategic and territorial alliance that Israel represents for American imperialism in the Middle East, it also has to deal with the powerful US pro-Israel lobby, which is strong enough to bring about a strong influence on US foreign policy. And what is happening today comes across as a clear warning to the president-elect, Obama.

Europe has partially regained its unity on foreign policy and is probably playing the card of active diplomacy in order to strengthen its role in the Mediterranean and to warn the USA that it cannot act alone in the Mare Nostrum[1] area. But one must not forget arms sales, an area where States are always ready to hide the truth under the blanket of "State secrets" and support the orders of those companies who produce arms and support systems. And these businesses are never biased. They are quite happy to sell arms to opposing parties, as long as they can pay for them. Italy, for example, is one of the biggest arms suppliers to Iran and Lebanon, but has also supplied the Israeli army for years with arms technology through companies like Oto-Melara, Beretta, Borletti and Selenia. And the other countries in Europe do likewise.

Palestine is cynically used as an experimentation ground for deadly new technologies which are increasingly specialising in "urban warfare" and in which every arms company is interested: from US and Israeli companies to English, French, German, Italian, and so on.

So, in this tortured land where men, women and children, crushed by the wargames of the powerful, seem to have no future, new arms are tested, from cluster bombs to impoverished uranium bullets, the effectiveness of UAVs (pilotless aircraft) - able to launch remote controlled missiles - is studied, Achzarit tanks able to withstand landmines are experimented, Namer armoured vehicles with Continental Motors (US) or MTU (German) engines are tested, as is the efficacy of avant-garde systems such as Italian added protection and remote-controlled turrets mounted on Puma armoured vehicles, and Alenia's futuristic robotic war systems such as Sky-X, the first system in the world able to refuel pilotless aircraft in flight.

All this on the shoulders of a people who have always been used in clashes between States and others, cynically used even in the political clashes between the internal factions of one State, as in the case of Israeli political machinations connected with the electoral struggle both within the governing coalition between the hawkish Kadima, responsible for some of the most extreme acts - like the evacuation of the Strip proposed by the MK Yisrael Hasson - on the one hand and the Labour doves, in favour of a more measured approach, on the other, and between Kadima and the Likud super-hawks, increasingly moving towards ultra hardline positions.

We certainly do not expect the Arab and/or Islamic States to do anything, divided as they are or intent on strengthening their prestige and their influence in the area, even if it comes at the cost of the Palestinian people. Like the case of Iran, that uses the Palestinian tragedy to publicise itself as the only bulwark against the hated American imperialism and set itself up as the emerging power in the region.

But beyond all the international political conjecturing, the situation of the Palestinian population today seems bleak, with few prospects for reaching a solution that can give them a chance for a life with even a minimum of dignity, both from the point of view of social security and from that of guaranteeing respect of the minimum rights of survival.

Today perhaps the only guarantee that the Palestinian people may, as quickly as possible, find even a little respite and peace is that the marauders of all shapes and sizes - physically or ideologically thronging at their borders, or engaging in political speculation inside - reach a new, precarious balance.

The only real prospect for emancipation that we can glimpse in the near future is a growth and spread of the sort of self-organisation that many Palestinian villages practise, encouraged by the solidarity between Palestinian popular committees and initiatives such as Anarchists Against the Wall, involving internationalists from all over the world and anti-Zionist Israelis, who fight the arrogance of the Israeli settler colonists and the army that supports them using prevalently peaceful resistance. And it is not by chance that in these villages another road has been chosen and not the militarism of Hamas.

As class-struggle anarchists and libertarians we will continue to denounce Zionist settler colonialismm as we denounce all forms of imperialism and fundamentalism that oppress the liberty and dignity of every people. We will go on denouncing the fact that huge swathes of the world's proletariat suffer under the oppression and misery that results from inter-imperialist clashes and the cynical political games of powerful local oligarchs who are in turn used, knowingly or unknowingly, as pawns in the international chessboard of imperialist disputes, marked with the blood of the proletariat.

We will continue to support the struggles and act of solidarity with the Palestinian people, supporting all those embryonic manifestations of self-determination that typify the struggles of whole villages in Palestine, convinced that only if they can free themselves of the malicious influences of all State or para-State oligarchies can the working men and women begin to hope for a more dignified life.

Note:1. Literally "our sea", used by the imperial Romans with reference to the Mediterranean. The suggestion is that the modern European powers want to control the Med as the Romans did 2,000 years ago.